Farewell to Old Prickly
Hobsons Brewery has said a farewell to its special charity beer for 2012 “Old Prickly” as it goes into hibernation. The ‘snuffly hedge grog’ has been a phenomenal success with over £2500 raised for the charity.
Shropshire brewer Hobsons started brewing the special beer in March 2012 for the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) as part of celebrations for their 30th Anniversary. The brewery pledged to donate 5p for every bottle and pint sold of the 4.2% pale ale. On Thursday 7th February a special event was held at the “Cross Hedgehog” (aka Golden Cross, Cleehill) where the brewery presented a cheque to the charity. Over 50,000 pints / bottles (combined total) were sold during the promotion of the beer making a donation of £2504.05 for the charity; the money will go towards supporting the important work of the charity at a time when hedgehog numbers are declining.
Key to the success of the charity beer was the continual PR activity following the launch, Old Prickly was promoted at key events attended by Hobsons including BBC Good Food Show where a photo opportunity with Alan Titchmarsh was captured, the charity’s patron John Challis (Boycie) helped endorse the beer at the Ludlow Food Festival and the beer also got a mention on the BBC’s Have I got News for You when the programme featured the BHPS newsletter.
“A big thank you to all those who supported our 2012 charity beer “Old Prickly”, the beer created a great following and humour along the way, however there was a serious side to this project and we hope we have done the charity justice in raising awareness to a new audience about hedgehogs” commented Kate Pearce from Hobsons Brewery.
Fay Vass, Chief Executive of the BHPS said “We are very grateful to Hobsons for coming up with this fantastic beer and of course for the huge donation which will greatly help our cause. The launch and hibernation parties were lovely evenings with the Golden Cross and Swifts bakery really entering into the spirit and supporting our charity too.”
You can find out more about the work of the charity on their website, www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk.
